Hino Motors announced it has reached an agreement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to settle charges of falsifying diesel engine emissions and performance tests in the US market. As part of the deal, Hino has agreed to plead guilty to engaging in a criminal conspiracy to mislead regulators and consumers, violating environmental protection laws and endangering public health.

The US Federal government and California state authorities brought the charges against Hino and its US subsidiaries after the company voluntarily disclosed it had used falsified emissions test data to get approval to import and sell more than 110,000 diesel engines in the US, most of which were installed in heavy-duty trucks made by Hino.

The Japanese truck-maker, along with its US subsidiaries, has agreed to pay a reported US$1.6bn to settle the case, confirming that “the agreements resolve all of the Company’s outstanding legal issues in the US related to the legacy emissions issues.”

Hino, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, pointed out that it had “voluntarily disclosed these issues to US authorities in 2019 and has provided what the US DOJ has described as exemplary cooperation with the DOJ’s investigation. The agreements resolve all of the Company’s outstanding legal issues in the US related to its legacy emissions issues.”

The company confirmed that as part of the criminal resolution with the DOJ, it had agreed to pay criminal penalties totalling almost US$522m, which it says was significantly reduced as a result of its full cooperation. It also agreed to pay US$422.5m in civil penalties to US federal authorities, including the DOJ, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and a further US$236.5m in civil penalties and other payments to California state authorities, including the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the California State Attorney General’s Office.

The EPA said Hino will be given a five-year probation period during which Hino will be barred from importing diesel engines in the US and will have to implement a comprehensive compliance and ethics programme. The company will also have to recall all trucks fitted with engines that violate emissions standards and spend an estimated US$155m to replace marine and locomotive engines.